The present invention relates to hemodynamic monitoring devices and methods. In particular, the invention relates to a determination of blood pressure in pulmonary and systemic arteries and derivation of ventricular fill parameters based upon measurements of pressure within chambers of the heart.
The blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries and systemic arteries is important for assessing function of the heart, diagnosing hypertension, titrating drug treatment, and treating patients and animals under a wide variety of pathological and physiological conditions. If blood pressure measurements are done within chambers of the heart, the absolute diastolic pressures in the arteries can be difficult to estimate.
Systems and methods have been developed to derive an estimated pulmonary artery diastolic pressure (ePAD) based upon ventricular pressure measured within the right ventricle. The ePAD pressure has been determined as being equal to the right ventricular pressure signal amplitude at the time of the maximum rate of rise in right ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax).
The ePAD pressure value can then be used, along with an estimated systolic pressure corresponding to the peak right ventricular pressure, to derive other estimated values, such as mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP). Systems using ePAD pressure values are described, for example, in Bennett et al. U.S. Published Application No. US 2006/0167361; Bennett et al. U.S. Published Application No. US 2006/0094967; Mulligan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,865,419; Struble U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,946; Kieval et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,623; and Carney U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,040, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.